The Year Without a Summer
by Sariniste
Summary: An unabashedly romantic IchiHime one-shot. Summer in Karakura Town has been miserably grey and rainy, and it seems like the sun will never come out. Orihime and Ichigo are busy trying not to think of each other for all the wrong reasons.


**The Year Without a Summer**

**A/N:** An unabashedly romantic IchiHime one-shot. Summer in Karakura Town has been miserably grey and rainy, and it seems like the sun will never come out. Orihime and Ichigo are busy trying not to think of each other for all the wrong reasons.

(Originally posted 7/30/2011.)

XxXxXxX

Ichigo stared out the window of his room at the rain streaking the glass. He was supposed to be working on his college application essays, but it was hard to concentrate when the weather had been so lousy for so long.

It was supposed to be summer! But it was the gloomiest, coldest summer Karakura Town had ever seen. He frowned to himself. He hated the rain. All his friends kept on muttering about "climate change," but as far as Ichigo was concerned, it just felt like one long winter, sealed up in his inner world again.

And he thought he'd gotten through all of that before.

He sighed. Now, if Orihime were here… he could just hear her cheerful voice, saying something trivial and silly about the rain, and how much she liked it. He caught himself grinning at the thought of her and quickly twisted his mouth into a frown.

It was the summer after his senior year in high school and at the end of the school year he had suddenly found himself noticing girls. He had started dating, but although there was no shortage of takers for his invitations, he found that something was oddly lacking. He found himself comparing the hair of this one to a certain shade of auburn, that one's pedestrian tales to a certain girl's wild imagination, that other one's, erm, body type to a certain girl's spectacular, uh, assets… and finding them all somehow dull in comparison. He had even been disappointed when one of his dates offered to cook for him and there was no red bean paste anywhere in the meal. And she hadn't even put butter on her sweet potatoes.

He sighed. Orihime had gone off on a summer program for girls who were interested in becoming astronauts, and she would be out of town for a couple of months more. He had become so accustomed to her being around that he hadn't realized how much she spiced up his life, how empty it seemed without the need to protect her and keep her out of trouble when she got overly ditzy.

Not that it mattered, he thought gloomily. With Orihime's spectacular looks and upbeat personality, some cute guy was sure to snap her up before she came home. He was kicking himself that he had been so oblivious to the female sex when the best example ever was right in front of him all the time. Of course, it was likely that she only thought of him as a friend. She had never said anything to indicate interest in him, after all.

He frowned more fiercely. How could he have missed out, all those years that she was hanging around without even a boyfriend? He could have beaten all the competition if he hadn't been so clueless.

He watched the drops fall on the window and slowly roll like tears from the top of the sash to the bottom of the glass. Finally he turned back to his essay, sighing once more.

XxXxXxX

"Okay, everyone on the bus!" The voice of their counselor was cheery and loud as always over the soft patter of rain. The campers crowded together under the awning were excitedly exchanging last-minute Twitter and Facebook accounts. Orihime picked up her duffel bag and backpack and joined the line of girls waiting to board. She stopped to exchange one more teary hug with another girl that she had become good friends with.

The astronaut camp had been more exciting than anything Orihime had ever imagined. It made her more determined than ever to major in astrobiology in college when she went off to school next year. She got onto the bus feeling a pang of sadness. She was so sorry to leave her new friends. It would be worse when she got back home. She would be so lonely when she went back to her dismal apartment in Karakura Town. Everyone was scattering to go off to college, all her dear high school friends… and who knew when she would ever see them again.

She shoved her duffel bag under one of the seats near the back of the bus and leaned her head against the window. The light summer rain fell gently over the long grass at the side of the road, and the fields stretched out to the mountains hazy in the distance under the rain. It was a beautiful sight, and should have made her happy, as she loved the rain. But instead she found her thoughts turning to Kurosaki Ichigo and how much he did not like rain. She shook her head angrily. It was time to stop thinking about him that way, and to get over her crush. She had signed up for this camp deliberately to get away from him. After seeing how he had looked at Rukia, she had decided it was time she got out of their way. The two of them were clearly meant for each other, and all Orihime would do was interfere with two of her best friends' happiness.

She needed to stop mooning over Ichigo and get on with her life. She sighed as she looked out into the misty distance as the bus bumped along over the country road, gears grinding. When she got back to Karakura Town, she would focus on getting ready for college, and studying, and would try to avoid running into Ichigo. She would say that she was too busy with schoolwork, she decided, when their nakama would try to invite her to parties where she might run into Kurosaki Ichigo.

She firmed her lips in determination and tried not to admit to herself that not seeing Kurosaki again was the saddest thing she could ever imagine.

XxXxXxX

The sun had finally come out when Tatsuki knocked at Ichigo's door. "Come on," she cried. "Everybody's going to the beach! You don't want to waste the one nice day of the summer, do you?"

Ichigo scowled and ran his hand through his orange hair, making it stand up in spikes. "You know I hate the beach, Tatsuki. It's just too silly, everybody running around kicking sand in each other's eyes." _Besides,_ he thought to himself,_ seeing all those half-undressed females will just remind me of what I'm missing._

But Tatsuki was rummaging through his closet, picking out his swim trunks and rolling them in a large towel. Then she grabbed his hand. "No choice, Ichigo. You're coming to the beach with me." Holding him in the ferocious grip of the fingers of the women's karate champion of Japan, she dragged him down the stairs.

XxXxXxX

"Orihime, hurry up!" Rukia pounded on Orihime's apartment door. "We're all going to the beach!"

"Oh, Rukia," came Orihime's muffled voice from behind the door, "you know I always burn at the beach! I'm a redhead after all!"

Rukia blasted Orihime's lock with a kidou spell and charged in as the door hung off its hinges. Orihime was staring at it open-mouthed. "You're going," she said, her eyes narrowed and a fierce scowl on her face. She shoved Orihime's towel and bathing suit into her chest so hard it nearly knocked the wind out of her.

Then she was dragging Orihime out to the car, ignoring her muttered protests about "fixing the door" and "I've got to study."

XxXxXxX

Sitting on a large beach towel under the sun they were unaccustomed to, Ichigo and Orihime looked everywhere but at each other. The beach was horrendously crowded, as might be expected for the first sunny day of summer. But somehow Tatsuki and Rukia had managed to get the two of them on a single towel in the one free spot left on the sand, then had rushed off to buy sodas, claiming they'd be right back.

"Kurosaki-kun," Inoue had said, looking away.

He responded with a mumbled, "Inoue," and looked down. It was unfair of Tatsuki, he thought to himself angrily, to get him seated right next to the one woman he wanted to avoid. He didn't want to embarrass her with his inappropriate desires.

Orihime sighed. She wondered where Rukia had gone. It wasn't right for her to be sitting there with the man her dear friend loved. Still, she supposed she should be polite. She looked at Ichigo who was sitting frowning at his pale, bare toes. Suddenly she started giggling. She couldn't help herself.

Ichigo started and stared at her, his frown slowly turning into a disbelieving grin. "What's so funny, Inoue?"

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry," she said between peals of laughter. "Your toes just looked so much like the fungal life-form we were studying at camp, you know, the one that grows in complete darkness and never gets any sun—" She stopped suddenly. She had become more aware lately that some of her fantasies were thought really strange by most people. And on second thought, she realized that comparing someone's body parts to a fungus might be considered insulting.

But Ichigo was suddenly grinning at her and laughing as well. He looked at his toes. "They do look pretty pale and creepy, don't they?" Then he waggled his eyebrows at her. "But you've still got your slippers on, Inoue!" He grinned slyly and reached out for her feet. "I bet if we look at your toes they won't be any better!" He gave a quick grab for her shoes and she squealed and pulled them out of his reach.

After a quick tussle, he had one shoe off and they were both flushed and laughing. Orihime wiggled her bare toes in the air and Ichigo inspected them solemnly.

Then he shook his head morosely. "No… I'm afraid your toes do not resemble a fungus in any way. They're way too cute and soft." He looked over at her, embarrassed and suddenly hesitant. "Inoue…" he said, but she was looking away again, her smile fading.

"Inoue…" he said. "I've missed you."

Orihime gave a long, long sigh, and turned her large grey eyes on him. "I've missed you too, Kurosaki-kun. I kept thinking all this summer that the rain would be depressing you, and I wished I could be there to cheer you up."

Ichigo gazed back at her intensely. "And I've wished you were here to tell me the rain wasn't so bad."

They fell into a short, companionable silence for a moment. Then they both began to speak at once. Ichigo motioned for Orihime to continue.

Eyes fixed on her hands clasped in her lap, Orihime said, "How's Rukia doing? Have you two been spending a lot of time together this summer while I've been gone?"

"Rukia?" asked Ichigo in a slightly puzzled tone. "Actually, I've been seeing her quite a lot since she's been assigned to Karakura Town. We go on missions fairly frequently." He didn't notice Orihime's face fall. "But oh—" he grinned abruptly, "I forgot to tell you the big news! Renji and Rukia got engaged!"

"They what?" asked Orihime, completely flabbergasted at Ichigo's grinning face that expressed only pride and happiness in his friends' union, not an iota of sadness at the loss of a romantic soul mate. "B- but, Kurosaki-kun, I- I thought you and Rukia…" She trailed off as he shook his head in puzzlement.

"Uh, Inoue, Rukia and I are great friends, but it would have been kinda weird for her and me to get together, considering she's about ten times older than me and a shinigami to boot." He looked at Orihime, nonplussed at her stricken expression.

"I always thought that you and she would make such a great pair," babbled Orihime, suddenly aware that tears were forming in her eyes. "You make such great partners."

"We are great partners," agreed Ichigo. "We make a great team." He stared at Orihime and at the tears shining in her eyes, bewildered.

Why should she be so upset? Could it be, could it possibly be…? Making a sudden decision, he decided to just go for it the way he always did when he was fighting. Don't think too hard, don't plan anything. Just charge straight to the point without worrying about tact or finesse. He turned to Orihime and shoved his face nearly into hers, almost overbalancing her as she drew back on the towel. "Uh, Inoue? There's only ever been one woman that I've been interested in."

Orihime looked up at him, now sniffling. "Who's that, Kurosaki-kun?" She wondered who it could be, if not Rukia. Tatsuki?

He frowned even more fiercely. "You," he said. "There's only ever been one woman for me, and her name is Inoue Orihime." He glared at her from inches away. "I'm sorry I've been so bullheaded before and never told you. I guess I was just clueless. You know what I'm like."

Orihime sat stock-still, her mouth dropping open as she stared at the orange-haired youth scowling at her. His expression was so familiar, but his words were so strange.

In the face of her obvious shock and distress, he deflated abruptly and leaned away from her. Why had he assumed that telling her his feelings was the hard part? The hard part would be hearing her gentle rejection, her soft words telling him that she would always care for him as a friend, but that there was someone else. He dropped his gaze and mumbled, "Yeah. No pressure. I'd still like to be your friend."

But Orihime was smiling at him, smiling as though the sun had suddenly come out after a year of rain. Her face was shining through her tears, her eyes brilliant and blissful. "Kurosaki-kun! Do you really mean that?" she asked.

"Uh… yeah," he said, then cursed himself as inarticulate. He forced himself to actually smile, his muscles feeling rusty and disused. "Yeah, Inoue, I, uh, really like you. _Really_ like you." If Tatsuki were there, he thought, she would have rolled her eyes at his clumsy declaration of … could it be love?

But it didn't seem to matter to Orihime. She had gathered up his hand and was staring into his eyes as though she were going to drown in them. "Oh, Kurosaki-kun!" she said. "If you only knew how long I've been waiting for you to say that!"

"Uh… you mean you like me too?" he asked, feeling awkward and unaccountably shy.

She nodded vigorously. "Of course! I just didn't want to interfere with you and Rukia… you know."

"Me and Rukia…?" said Ichigo in disbelief. "But I—"

With a tremendous crack, a thunderclap burst just over their heads, followed by an abrupt and torrential downpour of rain. A summer thunderstorm had moved in over the beach, unnoticed by the two as they had their discussion. Within seconds, they were both drenched. Everybody else had been packing up their stuff and running for their cars. Shortly, only Orihime and Ichigo were left alone on the beach, sitting on their wet towel, thoroughly soaked, their dripping hair clinging soddenly to their faces and shoulders, as the rain poured down in sheets, drowning everything else out.

Ichigo was grinning broadly at Orihime. "Inoue!" he shouted out over the pounding of the rain on the sand.

"What?" asked Orihime, shouting back, also with a silly grin plastered on her face.

"I love the rain!" he said, as he threw his arms around her and gave her a soggy hug.

She laughed, the rain streaming down her face, as she slipped her arms around his warm, wet torso and hugged him so tightly that it felt like she'd never let go. "And I know I'll love it even more after this." She closed her eyes and tilted her face up to his as the rain poured down.

Ichigo looked down at her, the water beading up on her smooth, poreless skin, her full lips slightly parted and glistening. Again, he reminded himself just to plunge ahead. He took a deep breath, and gently lowered his face and touched his lips to hers. They were soft and cool and wet from the rain, and she quivered slightly at his touch but tightened her arms around him. Then she returned his kiss.

And in that moment, Ichigo knew he would always love the rain.

XxXxXxX

**A/N:** Please review?


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